Silent Circle and Geeksphone today announced a new Switzerland-based joint venture and its inaugural product - the Blackphone - which is said to be the world's first smartphone placing privacy and control directly in the hands of its users. While the press release stays pretty mum about technical details and features, it's said that the Blackphone is powered by a security-oriented Android build named PrivatOS. The target of Blackphone is a carrier- and vendor-independent smartphone giving individuals and organizations the ability to make and receive secure phone calls, exchange secure texts, transfer and store files and video chat without compromising user privacy on the device.

At its yesterday evening press conference in Las Vegas, Sony Mobile unveiled the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, offering the very best of Sony technologies from its flagship Xperia Z1, in a stylish new compact size. The Xperia Z1 Compact is said to set a new standard in premium smartphones and indeed, for it's size it's everything but a mid-range phone. The Xperia Z1 Compact is running Android 4.3 and offers ultra-fast performance and breathtaking graphics, thanks to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 2.2 GHz quad-core CPU and 4G LTE for amazing speed. The Xperia Z1 Compact also includes a 2300 mAh battery which provides outstanding, class-leading battery performance, despite its compact size.

We have seen quite a few automotive tech-alliances in the past and from today, the world is richer with one more which is said to extend the success of the Android ecosystem to a coalition of auto and technology companies by bringing the Android platform to a device that's always been mobile: the car. Audi, GM, Google, Honda, Hyundai and Nvidia have joined together to form the "Open Automotive Alliance" (OAA), a global alliance of technology and auto industry leaders committed to bringing the Android platform to cars starting in 2014. The OAA is dedicated to a common platform that will drive innovation, and make technology in the car safer and more intuitive for everyone.

The patent-issues saga, HTC recently faced, continues. After the problems HTC faced in the UK with the possible ban of the HTC One mini, HTC is now in even deeper trouble in Germany. As FossPatents published yesterday, Nokia just won a German injunction against HTC's Android-based devices over a key USB-related patent. According to FossPatents, "Judge Andreas Müller, the Presiding Judge of the 21st Civil Law Chamber of the Munich I Regional Court, granted Nokia an injunction against HTC's Android-based devices infringing EP1246071 on a "method of configuring electronic devices". What's worst for HTC here is the fact, that this applies to all of the company's Android (but not Windows Phone) smartphones - not just one model!

Yesterday evening, Facebook pushed out its new Facebook for Android design to a broader audience, bringing a new look and feel to an Android device near you. Following its first Beta appearance in November, it seems that Facebook is now ready to give the new flat and somehow more Holo design to the public. Compared to the previous design, things changed a little bit. For instance has Facebook removed the slide-in menu on the left, only the Facebook Chat stays on the right, right next to the new search button. With the design change it's now possible to slide through the main menus in an Android Holo way, starting on the left with the News Feed, followed by Friend Requests, Messages, Notifications and More which includes Favorites, Pages, Groups, Apps and Settings.